Sophie Hogestall believes that Biden's team and critics in the Democratic Party seem to be on different planets.
In a fateful interview with ABC on Saturday night, Norwegian time, Joe Biden said he was distracted by Donald Trump's screaming during the much-discussed presidential debate.
“I let it get to me, and I wasn’t in control,” Biden admitted.
He also believed:
- He is in good health and will stay in the race to the end in the presidential election campaign.
- Trying to reassure nervous Democrats: Only God can make him resign
- He will not be given cognitive tests to show he is healthy enough. According to Biden, his efforts as president are sufficient evidence.
Watch highlights from the discussion on June 27:
– It looks sharper.
American expert Sophie Hogestall does not think the interview is enough to silence critics who are concerned about the health of the 81-year-old.
– The ABC interview is not as negative for him as the debate. But it is also not a performance so convincing as to silence criticism, says Hogestall.
– Biden seems more forceful than he did in the debate. That may mitigate some of the criticism. But she says he is not humble in the face of criticism of his age, and sometimes responds incoherently and seems to deny the reality of his campaign performance.
according to Average polling location Fivehirtyeight Trump's lead over Biden is now 2.5 percentage points. Just a week and a half ago — before the debate — Biden held a narrow lead.
In the interview, Biden was pressed on how likely he is to lose the presidential election right now, according to polls:
– He doesn't want to accept it. He talks a lot about what he's done in the last two years as proof that he can do the job. But the interviewer insists that it's about his ability to be president for the next four or five years, she said.
Last week, frustration and internal anxiety seeped into major American newspapers.
“Parts of his party and inner camp seem to be on two different planets,” says Hogestall.
– Biden’s team believes the presidential debate was a one-off, 90-minute event that he can get away with. On the other side, there’s a growing wing of his party that’s unsure whether he can win and whether he can stay in office for another four years, she says.
– Is this interview enough to stop the speculation?
– The next few days will show that. They will be crucial to show he can right the ship.
according to Washington Post Senator Mark R. Warner is trying to assemble a group of Democratic senators who will try to persuade Biden to give the campaign space to someone else.
On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey also asked Biden to consider whether he was the right man for the fall election.
Haley was also among more than 20 governors Biden met with on Wednesday in an attempt to reassure them after his disastrous televised debate against Donald Trump.
“If the governors start saying he should resign, and if you also get a number of senators saying the same thing, he's in trouble,” says Hogestall, adding:
– If he can't calm his party, it will be very difficult to convince the American people that they should trust him. And that will do great damage to his campaign, she says.
Hogestol believes the important question moving forward will also be how Biden conducts himself in televised interviews and debates — and that he avoids new gaffes as he did during a presidential debate.
– It's also interesting to see if he has more debate-like episodes in the next few days. Some supporters have asked people to give him two weeks to prove he's healthy enough and fast enough. Now he's out to convince. The question is whether he can do it.
– It's hard for the party.
In a fateful interview with ABC, Biden said he was not willing to take a cognitive test to prove he was smart enough to run the United States for another four years.
Høgestøl says he will be under a lot of pressure about this in the future.
– If God didn't call and Biden didn't choose to resign himself, how can the Democratic Party make it happen?
– And that's what's so hard for the Democratic Party. They've never tried to get rid of someone this late in the nomination process. Biden has already won the primary. And you say, all the delegates are obligated to vote for him, so to speak, and the party doesn't seem to be breaking the internal rules like it is today.
Høgestøl says there are a lot of people sending up trial balloons about Vice President Kamala Harris. According to her, Harris is the most likely Democratic presidential nominee if Biden chooses to withdraw before the campaign.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have also been named as relevant.
She says they have so far been very loyal to Biden publicly.
– It’s not just about jumping in as a backup candidate. You only have one chance to lose the presidential election. Both Newsom and Whitmer have also been mentioned as potential 2028 candidates. Do they want to burn all the powder on this opportunity, an option that’s not entirely clear they could win if they jumped in as a backup?
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